Some Greenlanders express outrage at Trump’s threats. But not everyone is affected

Tillie Martinussen, a former member of the Greenlandic Parliament, says US President Donald Trump is treating his fellow citizens like “sex workers” or a “common prostitute” with his threats to acquire the island.

And it’s very insulting, she says, to suggest to the Greenlanders that they are “invaders.”

“It’s outrageous and senseless and scary to some, but I think most of the time we’re just angry,” Martinussen told CBC News.

She’s just a Greenlander expressing anger and frustration over Trump’s recent musings that the United States needs to gain power. strategic arctic island it is an autonomous territory of Denmark.

However, not all island residents are reacting with outrage, with some downplaying comments made by the Trump administration about the fate of the territory.

Diplomacy is the “first option”

Since his first term, Trump has floated the idea of ​​acquiring Greenland, part of the Kingdom of Denmark. But after last weekend US military action in Venezuelahe renewed his calls for the United States to take control of Greenland, citing strategic reasons.

White House press officer Karoline Leavitt said in a statement Tuesday that Trump made it clear that acquiring Greenland is a U.S. national security priority, adding that “using the U.S. military is always an option.”

On Wednesday, however, Leavitt told reporters at a White House press briefing that the president’s “first option has always been diplomacy.”

Martinussen rejected the notion that talking about taking Greenland concerns U.S. security because, she said, the United States “can do almost anything it wants on security, as long as we negotiate about it.”

The US Department of Defense operates the remote Pituffik space base in northwest Greenland under a 1951 agreement between Denmark and the United States. It supports missile warning, missile defense, and space surveillance operations for the United States and NATO.

“I think [Trump] should just come out and say he wants…the oil, he wants the rare earth minerals,” Martinussen said.

“We don’t want to be Americans.”

Avaaraq Olsen, the mayor of Nuuk, Greenland’s capital, told CBC News the territory held one of its biggest protests in the spring, when people came out to strongly reject any U.S. takeover plans.

“And this is still the situation for Greenlanders. We think it is very disrespectful and offensive to find ourselves in this situation again because we have already expressed our opinion,” she said.

“We feel like we’re not being treated like our own, living in our own country. We’re being treated like an object to be bought, and we really want to get away from that.”

Sara Olsvig, president of the Nuuk Inuit Circumpolar Council, said many people on the island reject the idea of ​​being taken over by anyone.

She said Greenlanders have already experienced colonization and know what it means to be negatively affected by the interests of others and more powerful nations.

“It’s been said over and over again that we don’t want to be Danish,” she said. “We don’t want to be Americans. We are Kalaallit. We are Greenlanders.”

Greenland relies on the United States for its security

Greenlandic MP Pelé Broberg, who the leader of the opposition independence party Naleraq, did not express concern about Trump’s comments. He told CBC Power and politics that people are too eager to put words in Trump’s mouth and interpret what he says instead of listening to him.

“That’s where you see this fear mongering, this panic about what he’s going to do.”

Broberg said what he’s hearing from the Trump administration is that it actually wants to empower the people of Greenland by proposing, for example, a free association forum that would mean independence for Denmark.

“That doesn’t mean we should belong to the United States, but again, there’s a big difference between what the press focuses on and what we hear. So let’s moderate the discourse.”

Broberg said everyone seems to want to talk about annexation by the United States as a threat, while completely ignoring the fact that Greenland was annexed by Denmark.

“I keep telling everyone we need to have an adult conversation with them. [Trump] wants to make a deal. We want independence. They want security. Well, is there anything to be gained from both of us? Yeah, probably, but we won’t know until we have a conversation with them. And this cannot go through the press or through Facebook. »

Juno Berthelsen, who is also a member of the Greenland opposition party, told the CBC Ottawa Morning that everything discussions of military intervention are completely unrealistic.

Berthelsen said Greenland has been a U.S. ally for more than 80 years, with U.S. military bases stationed there. He added that the Greenlanders do not want the Americans to leave because they are counting on them to secure their territory and defend themselves against Russia and China.

“To me it’s just posturing, and everyone knows Trump is not a big fan of Europe and European powers,” he said. “I see no reason to worry.”